Heavy rains had much of Nebraska on high alert for flooding Thursday night. John McKee, Jefferson County's emergency manager, said a couple feet of water pooled onto part of Fairbury's Third Street, causing officials
Heavy rains had much of Nebraska on high alert for flooding Thursday night.
Flooding closed city streets in Beatrice as thunderstorms dropped between 2 and 5 inches of rain in over the region, causing some vehicles to become stranded in flooded streets. Streets had reopened by Friday morning.
John McKee, Jefferson County’s emergency manager, said a couple feet of water pooled onto part of Fairbury’s Third Street, causing officials to barricade that portion at about 8:15 p.m.
It was still raining at 9, and he said he was preparing for more to come throughout the night. Still, no homeowners had reported any flood damage at that time, he said.
North of Ansley in Custer County, 5 inches of rain fell in less than three hours, causing streams and ditches to run full. But emergency manager Troy Smith said the storm passed before anything overflowed.
In Hastings, there were reports of half a foot of water on the road near the airport. Across much of the state, county officials reported to the National Weather Service more than an inch of rain falling in an hour or less.
The weather threat was not confined to heavy rain and flooding.
In Saunders County, the emergency management officer said his vehicle was nearly blown off the road by a 70 mph wind gust that briefly lifted two wheels off the ground.
Beatrice Police Sgt. Brian Carver says the police department building was hit by lightning during the storm, but says the communications center was still able to handle emergency calls.
Carver says all streets have been reopened, and no power outages have been reported.
Posted in Local on Thursday, July 17, 2008 7:00 pm Updated: 3:01 pm.
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